Page 36 of Serendipity

A low siren interrupted my words. Solomon’s body went on high alert. He went over to my window and let out a stream of profanities.

“We’re under attack. Come on,” he grabbed my hands and dragged me out of my room. We met Cain on the stairs, already holding a gun in his hand.

“Get her into the room at the back now. It's not just Uriel. He’s brought friends.”

He leaned forward and kissed me quickly on the lips. “We’ve got this, Sweetheart. Go with Sol,”

then he was back down the stairs. Solomon continued to pull me along as we pushed against the flow of men rushing around like ants. Solomon stopped in front of what looked like a storage closet, but instead he punched in a number into a number pad, and the door popped open. Inside was a huge cache of weapons. Everything from semi-autos which I’m pretty sure were military grade and illegal as fuck, to damn C4.

Solomon tucked me into the closet then threw guns at every man who went past. Eventually the gun safe was empty of everything but a bunch of bricks of C4 and some goddamn grenades.

Solomon herded me back into the hall, pulling the armory door closed behind me. “What about me? I need a gun too.”

“Do you know how to use one? We will be in a room filled with our own people. Are you sure you can hit your mark?”

I huffed as I followed along behind him. I was an excellent marksman with a bow. Guns were a reasonably new weapon, and I hadn’t needed one. I was just a woman in this age. They didn’t need me to fight wars. And I didn’t need a gun to hunt for food when a bow was just as useful and cleaner.

So no, I wasn’t a good marksman with a gun, fuck it.

Taking my silence as an answer, he opened the door to a room with no windows and the door seemed heavier. A huge wooden table sat in the center of the room. “This is where we hold Church,”

Solomon explained, slamming the door shut. I noticed two prospects were here with me. Solomon stared at them, lifting his gun in their direction. “A single hair on her head gets hurt, I swear I’ll fucking torture you until you scream for mercy. I’m starting with your balls.”

They nodded nervously. Poor little guys. Couldn’t be more than twenty or so. They should be in college or at home with their Momma’s, not caught up in my fucking supernatural war.

Solomon leaned forward and kissed me softly. “It’s going to be fine. It’ll be all over soon.”

Then he walked out the door, slamming it shut behind him.

I slumped down in a chair, holding my head in my hands. Fuck, fuck, fuck.

They needed help. They didn’t understand what they were up against. I pulled my phone from my jeans pocket, and texted Hope. Then I called Marco.

I hadn’t told the guys about Marco, I wasn’t sure why. He seemed seperate to them, somehow a part of this shitshow but he’d gotten out. Dodged a literal bullet. I didn’t want to bring him back into it. But if Uriel got me today, he needed to run. Because if Uriel traced me here, he was going to want to eliminate anyone who knew that I was pregnant. Anyone who knew the whole story. Hope was on her own, she had her own beef with the Archangel. But Marco and his kids, they were just innocent bystanders.

He’d laugh so hard if he knew I just called him innocent. He was muscle for hire. He was a crazy bastard who’d spilled more blood than the two kids who were meant to be protecting me right now.

Hope, the woman who had rescued me from Purgatory, had met the guy while trying to bring down a dirty organization called Tenebrae. They were created by Uriel, but Tenebrae was little more than a venus fly trap for your soul. You were lured in by the power, the sex and the drugs, the sin, and you

lived well. But when you died, you were marked for Hell. Tenebrae did some fucking heinous things, but I’d met a few of Hope’s boyfriends, and they scared the shit out of me too. Maybe they were evenly matched, or maybe we’d all get our asses handed to us.

Either way, Marco needed to know. My heart hurt a little thinking about him. Leaving him behind had been the right thing to do; he had kids to protect. But it still stung how easily he’d let me go.

I pressed call on his number, and I waited for it to answer. There was silence at the other end of the line, but I expected it. Marco was mute.

“Marco, they found me. You gotta take the kids and run for a little while. If this shit all went bad, he’ll come for you guys. I need you to run.”

I could hear the hard thump at the other end of the phone, like someone slamming their fist on a table.

“Hey, listen. I wanted to say thank you. I never said it before, but you guys gave me a safe haven even for a little while, and I appreciate it more than you’ll know. You gave me normalcy in a time that I didn’t think I would ever be okay again. I owe you for that. Tell the kids that they are amazing. They are going to be wonderful human beings, and that's down to you, Marco.” I took a shaky breath. “I gotta go. I hope I see you soon.” I heard a strangled yell from the other end of the phone. I didn’t know what happened to Marco that stopped him from speaking, but I think it was physical. That it hurt him to speak.

I hung up before anything got more touchy-feely. I looked at the prospects, but they had their eyes trained on the door. That's when I heard the first gunshots. I sucked in a shuddering breath.

I tried to call Hope but her number just rang out. Something rammed the building and the whole place shuddered. “I need a gun,” I said to the Prospect closest to me. Stevie? Or Paulie? I couldn’t remember. He looked back at me, and then looked at the other Prospect.

“Uh, I’m not sure, Ma’am. I’ve only got one.”

I sighed, he probably needed it. The other Prospect didn’t even make eye contact with me. I stood and paced, the baby kicking the shit out of my bladder, sensing my distress. I had to pee. Fuck this. I should go out there. These men didn’t need to die needlessly.

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